what is truth
by synedoche
Summary: What did Revan set out to do in the end of KOTOR? Did he find the ultimate threat of the Sith Emperor? And why did he leave behind everything he had ever known?


Kill me.

Afraid not, my young apprentice. The voice comes from the dark, in all directions, slow, deliberate, insidious.

"Please…" he whispers into the cold night air.

"Mercy?" A scoff hissed from his tormentor's mouth. "No, I think not."

A stream of force lightning emanates from the cloaked figure toward his kneeling prisoner, inducing yet another series of agonizing screams.

"Will you yield?"

Silence.

"That will be enough for today, I think. We shall resume our lessons tomorrow…" The sith emperor opens his mouth as though to grin grotesquely. The ghastly figure rises from his throne, flanked by his two loyal guardsmen as he leaves the room.

On the floor in the center of the secret chamber of the emperor, lies a smoking figure, neither dead nor alive. His eyes open in the darkness, a glint of yellow shining like the sparks of a rekindled fire.

Revan's chest heaves up and down, fresh pain with every breath. His heart beats sporadically. His hand clenches in agony and hatred at his enemy; at his pain; at anything and everything he ever knew.

Hours, days, weeks pass in the chamber. Time no longer flows as it once did for the man the universe had named Revan. Time has now become only the passing moments between pain, unbearable pain: a slow crawl through the frenzied desperation of uncertainty.

It is time for the final lesson.

His eyes open to find himself kneeling on the ground in the chamber, now as familiar to him as the cockpit of the Ebon Hawk. The hard, stone ground; cold to the touch, rough and unyielding. Ancient Sith runes carved into its floor, like scars across a seasoned warrior.

Alone in the darkness. He has learned to expect pain, and even to harden his body to it. But there is no one here to help him in his darkest hour. He is lost…

Something glistens in the dark. A light saber has appeared before him. Revan's frantic mind scrambles to recognize this link to his former life. He gently picks it up and examines the relic before his eyes carefully. The room is completely silent for a fleeting moment, time stopping for the briefest moment.

The hum of the blade of light fills the room. Revan looks up to see a lone figure several feet before him. A young warrior has stepped forward with his blue blade. He is dressed in the traditional robe of the Jedi. The challenger slowly approaches the kneeling figure in the center of the chamber, his cold, hard face expressionless, as though sculpted from marble.

Revan does not know what to do. The young Jedi hesitates before raising his arm to strike the cripped man before him. But a second before the blade connects with his flesh, Revan's basest instincts take over and he activates his own lightsaber an instant before death touches him.

"What does it matter who your enemy is?" The sinister voice of the Sith emperor emerges from out of the depths of darkness as the two duelists hack away at one another.

"Jedi, Sith, Mandalorian, Republic soldier…all carry with them the intent and power to kill," Continues the voice amidst the dancing flame of lightsaber parries.

"Kill or be killed…Revan…Kill a servant of the light…or be killed by your own hypocrisy…"

Revan's head convulses in moral agony, unsure at all whether he ought to do more than defend himself against the onslaught of the young Jedi before him. "No, I…I can't, I-"

The Jedi force pushes Revan, causing the former dark lord to fly through the air and onto the nearest wall with a dull thud. Revan lands on his feet, his pain struggling with his restraint.

"Do not be afraid…do not hesitate…your opponent certainly will not…"

The Jedi taps into the power of the force to catch the frenzied Revan by surprise. In a reverse of the lightsaber throw, he draws Revan's lightsaber away from him and onto his waiting hand.

The Jedi silently slashes at the air with both lightsabers, blue and red surrounding either side of his body. He raises the two blades to form a criss-cross before him. He slowly approaches Revan, eyes glinting with focus.

Revan feels genuine fear for the first time since his torture began, having gained and lost power in the guise of his lightsaber in just a few minutes. He stares at the Jedi with desperation, a bead of sweat leaking down from his forehead.

"Use the Force, Revan…become your own destiny!"

"Whoever you are. I-I don't know why you're doing this, but we don't have to fight!" Revan raises his hand in surrender, his body already anticipating the futility of his act.

The hum of both lightsabers from the jedi fills the air around Revan's neck as he narrowly escapes by rolling beneath the Jedi's robes, in between his legs.

"Speak! Say something! Why, won't you speak!" Revan shouts in a frenzy amid the whirling flashes of light flying toward his limbs.

The sinister cackle of the Sith emperor seems to fill more than the room; its tendrils of hate penetrate the very mind of Revan: "See what negotiations do for a man without power? The strong…prey upon the weak, my former apprentice…Revan…."

"Become the dark side of the Force! Use your hate and anger! I sense it in you, a whirlwind of chaos. Don't you have the will to live? Consume your fear and mercy…"

The anguish on Revan's face, shining with sweat in the dim light of the jedi challenger's blade, slowly but surely, fades. Transforms, into determination. Revan grits his teeth in hatred for the first time since the Days of the Dark Lord. He rises to face his foe, hands clenched and at his side.

The blade of light swings down directly upon Revan's head.

An explosion fills the room. Flashes of light and the cackle of the lightsaber attack the jedi's senses. He is momentarily stunned, blinded and deafened by the immense aurora eminating from where he struck Revan.

The jedi waves his other lightsaber around, as though to dispel the bright light from his eyes. He stumbles back toward the chamber wall, unsure of the figure standing before him. Revan opens his eyes, his hands above his head glowing with the bright aurora of a Force power.

"Good….few have ever used the Force to block a lightsaber strike…the amount of Force energy needed is unthinkable for mere sith or jedi. But you, Revan….you are the Force! You have no limits, not even in death!" The emperor lectures.

"And now you must finish what you have already started. Kill your opponent. Absorb the weak. Take his life essence, my young apprentice. How else will you escape? How else will you get your revenge on me? You want power; you need power. This is the only truth you can ever embrace…"


End file.
